70 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



are generally represented as indicating the outlines of the chair or 

 throne in which the queen sits, the star Zeta (C) being in her head. 

 Look at Zeta with a good field-glass, and you will see a singular and 

 brilliant array of stars near it in a broken half-circle, which may sug- 

 gest the notion of a crown. Near the little star Kappa (k) in the map 

 will be seen a small circle and the figures 1572. This shows the spot 

 where the famous temporary star, which has of late been frequently 

 referred to as the "Star of Bethlehem," appeared. It was seen in 

 1572, and carefully observed by the famous astronomer Tycho Brahe. 

 It seems to have suddenly burst forth with a brilliancy that outshone 

 every other star in the heavens, not excepting Sirius itself. But its 

 supremacy was short-lived. In a few months it had sunk to the second 

 magnitude. It continued to grow fainter, exhibiting some remarkable 

 changes of color in the mean time, and in less than a year and a half 

 it bad disappeared. It has never been seen since. But in 1264, and 

 again in 945, a star is said to have suddenly blazed out near that point 

 in the heavens. There is no certainty about these earlier apparitions, 

 but, assuming that they are not apocryphal, they might possibly 

 indicate that the star seen by Tycho was a periodical one, its period 

 considerably exceeding three hundred years. Carrying this supposed 

 period back, it was found that an apparition of this star might have 

 occurred about the time of the birth of Christ. It did not require a 

 very prolific imagination to suggest its identity with the so-called star 

 of the Magi, and hence the legend of the Star of Bethlehem and its 

 impending reappearance of which we have heard so much of late. It 

 will be observed, from the dates given above, that, even supposing 

 them to be correct, no definite period is indicated for the reappear- 

 ances of the star. In one case the interval is three hundred and eight 

 years, and in the other three hundred and nineteen years. In short, 

 there are too many suppositions and assumptions involved to allow of 

 any credence being given to the theory of the periodicity of Tycho's 

 wonderful star. At the same time, nobody can say it is impossible 

 that the star should appear again, and so it may be interesting for 

 the reader to know where to look for it. 



Many of the most beautiful sights of this splendid constellation are 

 beyond the reacb of an opera-glass, and reserved for the grander 

 powers of the telescope. 



We will pause but a minute with Cepheus, for the old king's con- 

 stellation is comparatively dim in the heavens, as his part in the dra- 

 matic story of Andromeda was contemptible, and he seems to have 

 got among the stars only by virtue of his relationship to more inter- 

 esting persons. He does possess one gem of singular beauty — the star 

 Mu, which may be found about half-way from Alpha to the group of 

 stars in the king's head, named Zeta {Cj, Epsilon (e), and Delta (8), 

 and a little southwest of a line joining them. It is the so-called " Gar- 

 net Star," thus named by William Herschel, who advises the observer, 



